A Matter of Trust
by mdelpin
Summary: Natsu and Gray would always fight, both with and without magic, their opposing natures and personalities almost demanded it, but behind all the insults and blows there was a friendship built on trust and respect.


Fuckyeahgratsu request

For divinion1990

"What kind of loser doesn't know how to swim?" Natsu mocked Gray as he ran, trying to stay out of the ice mage's reach.

"So what if I don't know how to swim?" Gray yelled as he punched the stupid grin off Natsu's face. "At least I know how not to be an asshole."

"You're a loser on that one too," Natsu shouted in annoyance, not wanting to admit the punch had hurt. He kicked Gray's legs out from under him quickly and pinned him to the ground.

Gray maneuvered out from under him and reversed their positions. "Who's the loser now?" Gray grinned triumphantly at the fuming Fire Dragon Slayer.

"Ow, you bastard!" Gray screamed as his skin began to blister where he'd been touching Natsu, causing him to let go. "Gramps said no magic in the guild!"

"Well Gramps isn't here, is he?" Natsu scrambled away from Gray, not wanting to admit that he'd been beaten. He tried to ignore the sudden tightness in his chest when he saw Gray was in real pain.

In all the years he'd had fire magic Natsu had never actually hurt anyone with it, never seen the results of his power on another. He knew that was bound to change as soon as Gramps cleared him for more dangerous missions, but the pained look on Gray's face was unnerving him.

"Natsu, that was uncalled for!" Erza scolded him, distracting him from the progressively negative thoughts that were beginning to take hold of him. "Take Gray to the infirmary this second, you know better than to attack his hands, he needs those to do his magic. Half of whatever money you make on jobs will go to him until his hands heal."

"What?!" Natsu protested in outrage, "How is that even fair?"

"You've made it so he can't work," Erza pointed out, her eyes flashing dangerously, "Would you rather I tell Gramps you broke his rule?"

"Fine, I'll give the _Princess_ half of my take," Natsu agreed, quickly realizing any punishment Gramps came up with would likely be worse. "Come on," he grabbed Gray by the hand and pulled him towards the stairs.

"You idiot!" Gray screamed in agony as his burnt hand throbbed at Natsu's rough treatment. "Do you ever think?"

"Ugh, I'm sorry," Natsu moved his hand to Gray's elbow and carefully guided him up the stairs to the infirmary. He placed Gray's arms under the water faucet and let cool water run over the burns while he hunted around for supplies to treat him.

All supplies collected, he turned off the water and moved Gray over to one of the beds. Natsu felt terrible when he saw the extent of the burns, he hadn't meant to hurt the ice block. He just hadn't wanted to lose. He patted Gray's arms dry with a towel, careful not to pop any of the blisters.

"So how come?" Natsu asked, trying to distract Gray from the bandaging which he knew was likely to be painful.

"Am I supposed to know what you're talking about?" Gray snapped, glaring at him in a way which showed he was still upset.

Natsu made himself count to ten before he responded, he knew Gray had every reason to be angry with him, and he was determined to keep his temper for once.

"Swimming, how come you never learned?"

"Oh, I lived in the North," Gray explained with a shrug, "It was too cold to swim in the water there and I never really thought about it after I got here."

Natsu opened his mouth in an O shape, but no sound came out. He'd forgotten Gray came from the North country when he'd made fun of him. He finished bandaging Gray's arms as gently as he could, and the ice mage went away, leaving Natsu with a bitter aftertaste as he thought about how his thoughtlessness had managed to hurt his rival. Well okay, friend. He was still new to the guild and so far he'd only really interacted with Gray and Erza.

For the next two weeks, Natsu worked nonstop, trying to make enough money for rent and food for the two of them. When Gray's bandages finally came off, and his burns had healed Natsu was relieved but way too tired for the fight Gray was obviously looking for, or at least that's what he told himself. He went back to the boy's dorm and collapsed on his bed.

Unbeknownst to Natsu, Makarov had been watching him, having heard from Macao what had happened while he was gone. The guild master was proud of the way his young member had taken responsibility for his actions without much complaint. He'd noticed that Natsu had been avoiding interacting with Gray, and as much as he enjoyed the peace and quiet, it troubled him. It was possible that Natsu was just tired, he _had _been working very hard, but the guild master couldn't help but worry that there was something else behind it.

O-o

"Hurry up, we're going to miss the train," Makarov chided his guild members who were laden down with supplies for their day at the beach. He had goaded all of the adults into coming, not wanting to be stuck at the beach with so many children by himself. There were baskets of food, tubs full of toys and sunblock as well as umbrellas, towels, and blankets, not to mention the barrels of alcohol he'd bribed Gildarts, Macao and Wakaba with.

"Train?" Natsu immediately complained, "Can't we walk to where we're going?"

"I'm afraid not my boy," Gramps replied cheerfully. He scratched his head as he remembered that Natsu got motion sick on vehicles, and feeling a bit guilty he asked Wakaba to pass him one of the sand pails and handed it to Natsu, who looked at him miserably. "The trip won't be long, and I promise it will be worth it," Makarov said kindly as he ruffled the boy's pink locks.

Gray seemed ready to say something, but a glare from Makarov shut him up quickly, and he made do with smirking at Natsu, who was staring at the train like it was his nemesis. Although once the train started to move, he felt a little bad as he watched Natsu dry heave for the better part of an hour.

Gray was very excited to go to a beach, he'd never been to one before, and he couldn't wait. He ran out of the train as soon as it stopped, clothes coming off as he ran. Gildarts went after him to make sure he didn't get lost and to avoid carrying any of the heavy items, picking up Gray's clothes along the way. The rest of the kids waited for Natsu's nausea to settle, walking towards the beach together with the other adults.

As soon as they arrived at the sand, all the other kids paired up and ran off to play, grabbing toys and yelling a general direction where they could be found, leaving adults scrambling to set up a central location and Natsu to stare after them. He was sure he could join any of them even though they hadn't explicitly invited them, but it still made him feel a little left out. He looked around the beach with interest, it had been a while since he'd been to one. The cold water was calling to him, and he could see Gray dipping his toes in the water nervously.

Makarov watched to see what Natsu would do. "You know Natsu, Gray looks like he could use some company."

Natsu looked over again and bit his lip, a gesture that was not missed by the guild master. He grabbed a bunch of toys and handed them to the Fire Dragon Slayer. "Here, why don't you take these over to him and show him how to use them. I don't think he's ever been to a beach before."

Natsu looked at the offered toys with interest but had no idea what to really do with them. Dragons didn't precisely pack toys to outings.

"Macao, why don't you go with him?" Makarov suggested, "You've got a kid coming, might as well get some practice in." He gave the fire mage a meaningful look, and Macao nodded, knowing Makarov wanted him to have a chat with Natsu.

"Sure," Macao replied, "Come on Natsu, let's go get Gray."

Natsu began to move, but it was a lot slower than usual.

"Wanna talk about it?"

Natsu shook his head and continued to walk.

"Is this about the day Gray was hurt?"

Natsu stopped in his tracks and gazed at Macao thoughtfully.

"I remember the first time I hurt a friend with my magic. Stop me if this sounds familiar," Macao smiled kindly, " I felt terrible about it. It made me nervous about using my magic around others."

He studied Natsu, who was still staring at him but Macao could tell he was listening. "You know, fire is one of those magic that is both a blessing and a curse, and I firmly believe it's only given to those who are very strong of will."

Natsu scoffed at that, but he was listening so Macao continued, "It has the power to hurt and destroy, but it can also save lives. Did you know that?"

Natsu shook his head. "You just need to learn to control your fire, Natsu. I can work with you if you want."

"I'd like that."

Macao ruffled Natsu's hair affectionately, he'd grown fond of him very quickly. "Then it's settled, now go out there and have fun with your friend, there's a barrel I need to liberate from Wakaba."

Macao handed the beach toys he was holding to Natsu and began to walk back towards where the other Fairy Tail wizards were sitting when he heard Natsu ask, "What if he doesn't like me anymore?"

Macao turned around and was surprised to see the hesitation in the usually brash mage.

"You won't know unless you talk to him, but I'm pretty sure he knows you didn't mean to hurt him." Macao pointed out, "Besides, are you sure he liked you in the first place?"

When he heard Natsu laugh, he added, "You could always apologize."

"Good point, okay I'll give it a try. Thanks, Macao." Natsu dropped the toys and hugged the fire mage tightly. He grabbed everything and ran towards the ice mage.

"Hey, Ice Block," Natsu stopped in front of Gray, noticing how his attention was on the other kids swimming in the ocean.

"What do _you _want?" Gray turned and looked at Natsu, noticing all the crap he was holding, "And what on Earthland do you have there?"

"Beach toys," Natsu put them down on the sand and scratched his head, "I guess you use them to build stuff in the sand." He pointed at some of the other people on the beach who were using similar tools. "Look, I wanted to say I was sorry I burned you, I won't do it again."

Gray studied him for a moment and began to laugh, "That's what you think I was mad at?"

Natsu looked at him in confusion, "Wasn't it?"

"No, dumbass. I was mad at you cause you cheated." Gray rolled his eyes at the other, "You're a fire mage, I expect to get burned now and again, just as I'm sure I'll freeze your ass at some point."

Natsu snorted, a playful tone sneaking its way in as he shed some of the guilt he'd been harboring, "As if you could."

"Only one way to find out," Gray challenged, a smirk spreading on his lips as he got into his ice make stance.

"Oh, you're so on!" Natsu grinned, his fists lighting up, but before they could even begin to test each other, a voice they both recognized well interrupted them.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" Erza glared at them, somehow managing to convey her irritation even dripping wet and only wearing a swimsuit.

"Just behaving like good buddies do," Gray mumbled putting his arm around Natsu's shoulders and pulling him closer.

"Yep, nothing to see here," Natsu agreed, wrapping his arm around Gray as well and flashing Erza what he hoped looked like a genuine smile.

"Good, because we're here to have fun," Erza relaxed and smiled at them, always enjoying when they got along. "Why don't you guys come swim with us?"

"We'll be there in a minute," Natsu assured her, watching as she returned to the others. They waited until she was far enough away before detangling themselves, immediately scowling at each other before crossing their arms across their chests and turning away.

"Are we okay?" Natsu asked Gray, turning around to face him.

Gray chuckled, "As okay as we ever are, Flame-Brain." He grabbed one of the shovels and pails and walked away. "I'll see you later."

"Hey, where are you going?" Natsu yelled after him.

"Aren't you going swimming with the others?" Gray asked.

"Yeah, we both are. Come on!" He grabbed Gray by the hand and started leading them towards the water.

Gray struggled until he managed to get his hand free from Natsu's grip, "First of all, you really need to stop grabbing me like that, you're gonna give people ideas. Second, I don't know _how_ to swim, remember?"

"I know, I'm gonna teach you," Natsu said, his eyes hard and determined, a sign Gray had already learned meant there was no arguing with him. So he did something quite unusual for him, he said a silent prayer for his safety and let Natsu lead him. He couldn't help but notice that Natsu was guiding him away from the others, to a small private cove and for that he was grateful.

When they were in the water, Natsu immediately splashed him, and they were soon engaged in an epic water battle, neither of them noticing Makarov sitting on a rock nearby.

After Natsu deemed Gray relaxed enough to learn, he repeated all the steps Igneel had used to teach him. After about an hour with minimal bickering, Gray had gotten the hang of it.

"Wanna race me?" Natsu asked hopefully. He'd been standing still for far too long to teach Gray, and he was itching to do something active. "I'll give you a head start…"

Makarov called out to them before Natsu could manage to ruin all his efforts by drowning Gray. "Boys, lunch!"

They spent the rest of the afternoon together playing with the others, building sand castles, burying Levy and Droy in the sand and when they all went out swimming again Gray and Natsu both joined them.

As the years passed Gray became a powerful swimmer, with Natsu always challenging him there really was no other choice, but he would never forget how he learned nor how that one snap decision on his part helped shape his relationship with Natsu for years to come.

Natsu and Gray would always fight, both with and without magic, their opposing natures and personalities almost demanded it, but behind all the insults and blows there was a friendship built on trust and respect. Many of their guildmates wondered if one day it might turn into more and although both of them would usually scoff at the idea, in their most private thoughts, they found they didn't really mind.


End file.
